There has never been a single volume that explored the backstories of so many of the greatest books in the English language. A work sure to captivate all lovers of language and literature, it reveals in short, pithy chapters, the lives, loves, motivations, and quirky, fascinating details involving fifty of the best-loved books of the Western world. From The Great Gatsby to Harper Lee, from Jaws to J. K . Rowling, it offers an entertaining and informative journey through the minds of writers and the life experiences that took these amazing works from notion to novel.